TTO Scoresheet Rankings

Your Guide to Protect Day

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While those of you in standard fantasy leagues are blissfully waiting for pitchers and catchers to report, for many of us on the Scoresheet side, yesterday was the culmination of an offseason of decision-making. Sunday was the standard keeper deadline, and to prepare, BP's Scoresheet team put together a complete ranking list for you to make your decisions, or to get a second opinion for keepers or trade possibilities. Consider this a beta release, as we will continue to prepare our official rankings to coincide with Scoresheet's fantasy position weeks. Until then, do you have a question? We'll take last minute questions right here in the comments section, in email at scoresheet@baseballprospectus.com, or @TTOScoresheet on Twitter. We're here to help, so let us know what your deadline is! For those of you with later keeper deadlines, we'll continue to discuss rankings both here and on the podcast all month long.

You can view the rankings in the Google Spreadsheet embedded below or by following this link.

The rankings should show up in an embedded spreadsheet, but if you're unable to see them, you can also see it by following this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuspDfJO_tIedENrajFLTzhlRUJXTl9UXzRKX0tFaVE#gid=15

Hey, that was intentional. It may not be clear from the notes section, but Tanaka is among the starting pitchers with minor league eligibility aren't ranked right now (we have him roughly in the top 20, IIRC). We wanted to get a version of the rankings list ready and out to everyone, and we'll be interpolating minor league pitchers in soon. Our full official list will include Tanaka, and will be available on BP Fantasy's Starting Pitchers week.

Interesting. We'll field this question during pitchers week on the podcast. There may be a philosophical difference here. I think I'm the most "prospect-friendly" of our cohort, but on first blush, even after reading your direct challenge, there's not a pitching prospect I would take ahead of Tanaka, in Scoresheet or real life. (Well, there's possibly one, but he's still in college).

Check out Tanaka's PECOTA projection on this site, and compare that to Archie Bradley's and Taijuan Walker's. I feel as though there'd be a lot of wishcasting on the part of the person taking the prospect for rapid improvement. The attrition rate of even the best pitching prospects is immense, and the Scoresheet replacement level is fairly high. Granted, if you think there's a reason Tanaka won't hit his PECOTA, you may have a reasonable difference of opinion.

I think the correct answer is 'depends.' This should be a rare practice; usually they'll play outfield like a poor corner OF. I recommend joining the Scoresheet talk forum here: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/scoresheet-talk , clicking on files, and downloading Garth Hewitt's "Out of Position Tool.xls." Hope that helps!